LANCASTER, Pa. — “My superpower is diabetes. What’s yours?” said Derek Morgan, a 7-year-old who lives with type-1 diabetes, a life-long autoimmune disease that prevents the pancreas from making insulin.
Derek was diagnosed at 4 years old after his mom, Chelsea Morgan, responded to signs of thirst and vomiting and rushed him to the hospital.
“They said that if I would’ve waited two more hours my son probably would’ve died. It was my not knowing that caused him so much pain and it ended up causing me a lot of pain,” said Chelsea.
Morgan says being a mom is difficult in general but being a mom of a son with type 1 diabetes is a different story. She says she feels like a nurse who’s unpaid and untrained while making meals to ensure her son’s blood sugar stays within range.
“It is very hard when I do it because when my blood sugar goes low, I act crazy,” said Derek.
Chelsea says their daily routine is hard enough, but one thing that makes it even harder is when kids with diabetes are bullied at school.
“They have this equipment ripped off their bodies. Teachers take the phones because they don’t fully understand that these phones are lifesaving devices and then on top of it, you’re hearing things like, 'Don’t play with [them] because you might catch diabetes,'” said Chelsea.
To help create a support system for her son, Chelsea started Derek’s Defenders, a movement to inform people about medical bullying and type 1 diabetes. The non-profit offers support and knowledge to families and has always been close to Chelsea’s heart.
She was recently given the title of this year's International Women of Service Sweetheart at the International and American Women Pageants and plans to use her role to create a bigger push for the movement.
“That’s my goal to make sure that no child dies because when you’re sitting in the hospital room and that doctor looks at you and makes you feel awful because you didn’t know any better, no one wants to go through that,” said Chelsea.